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Managing Mental Health Around the Holidays

Holidays Mental Health

When it comes to attending therapy around the holidays, clients often fall into one of two camps: “I’ll be fine without a session next week. It’s the holidays.” or “Oh yes, I’ll definitely need a session next week. It’s the holidays.”

While the song tells us that “it’s the most wonderful time of the year,” the reality can be much more complicated. For some, the holidays can be incredibly lonely. For others it means returning, however briefly, to old and problematic family dynamics, or even to places where unresolved trauma looms near the surface.

Whatever the holiday season may hold, there are things you can do to make the most of this time of the year.

Plan Ahead – Be intentional about your plans. Avoiding decisions gives the decision to others, so be proactive and choose how you’d like to spend your holidays. If you’ll be on your own, how would you like to spend the time? Grant yourself the gift of doing something fulfilling. Solitude can be a true pleasure, so think about your needs and desires, and lead with self-compassion. While some may gather with relatives, others will gather with chosen family. Reach out to those who have earned your trust and friendship and plan a special holiday gathering.

There are few things so fulfilling as sitting around a table with good food, good drink, and good souls. If you are heading home to be with relatives, it’s still good to plan ahead. Returning to our family of origin can be extremely fulfilling, but it can also bring up a lot of difficult emotions. Think about where the troublesome areas are in those relationships and how you’ll manage them during your visit. Preparing a plan ahead of time can keep you from being overwhelmed and reacting poorly in the heat of a conflict.

Know Your Boundaries and Your Backup Plan – Despite the growing up we’ve done in our personal lives, family has a knack for bringing us back to our old ways. We may tend to blur our boundaries and over-tolerate behavior from family members that we would never put up with in our daily lives. Decide early where your boundaries are. Keep in mind that boundaries are not about controlling others. Instead, they are a clear definition of how you need to be treated and what you will and won’t do.

Some family members may be accustomed to your lack of boundaries, so be sure to state clearly and calmly what you need. It may be uncomfortable, but it will be worth speaking up. You’ll also want to know your backup plan. Some people may be unwilling to respect your boundaries, so be ready to remove yourself if needed. It’s better to step away than to power-struggle, and people may come around if given time to cool down and think. If the disrespect or unkindness merits it, however, give yourself permission to leave. You do not owe your company to anyone who mistreats you.

Savor the Good – Whether on your own, with friends, or with family the holidays are an opportunity to slow down, return to the present, and savor the good in life. Collectively, it’s been a particularly difficult few years for many of us. We should make room to honor the pain and struggle, but we should also allow ourselves to feel joy and be grateful for the good in our lives, whether big or small. Gratitude has a direct link to happiness and life satisfaction, so take the opportunity to choose positive holiday plans and let the joy sink in.

Lead with Compassion – No matter how we spend our holidays, we should lead with compassion for ourselves as well as for others. It is easy to become overly critical or impatient, to jump to conclusions or to blame, but these things do little good. They rarely accomplish anything, and they certainly don’t leave us feeling any better for it. Instead, taking a deep breath and having some patience, including for ourselves, will take us further.

The holiday season is a mixed bag for many, but we can choose how we spend this time and who we spend it with. May we grant ourselves the kindness to meet our own needs without judgment and grant others a gentle word and a grateful smile.

Nick Norman, LICSW, is the Business Relationship Manager at Mindful Therapy Group, a diverse and collaborative network of licensed, independent mental health clinicians serving Washington and Oregon.

U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major Lourdes E. ‘Alfie’ Alvarado-Ramos will be inducted to the VA Puget Sound Health Care System Wall of Heroes

American Flag

Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs Director and retired U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major Lourdes E. ‘Alfie’ Alvarado-Ramos will be inducted to the VA Puget Sound Health Care System Wall of Heroes November 9, 2022 at 3 p.m. She is being recognized for always placing the needs of service members—past and present—in the center of all that she does, whether on the battlefield or across Washington State.

U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major Lourdes E. ‘Alfie’ Alvarado-Ramos

Alfie (as featured on Madigan’s wall of past command sergeant majors):

The Wall of Heroes serves as a reminder for patients, visitors, staff and volunteers at VA Puget Sound of the sacrifice, valor, bravery and heroism demonstrated by Puget Sound area Veterans. Dedicated June 29, 2009, the Wall of Heroes display is one way VA Puget Sound honors those Veterans. Framed biographic displays of each inductee are symbols honoring Veterans who have had significant contributions to those we serve at VA Puget Sound. Alvarado-Ramos will be the 18th Veteran honored.

Born in Puerto Rico, Command Sergeant Major Alfie Alvarado-Ramos served 22 years on active-duty service, retiring August 1993 as the Command Sergeant Major of Madigan Army Medical Center and Troop Command, Joint Base Lewis McChord. During her military career, she was the recipient of awards and decorations that include the Legion of Merit, Order of Military Medical Merit, Expert Field Medical Badge and Meritorious Service medals. Her commitment to servicemembers—past and present—remains her #1 priority. This is evident in her many roles today: Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs Director, National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs President, Governor Jay Inslee’s Executive Cabinet Member and Washington Military Transition Council Chair and serves on the Boards of Directors of the Patrick Madigan Foundation and National Association of State Veterans Homes.

Madigan Army Medical Center Command Sergeant Major Albert Harris (the position Alfie had at Madigan prior to her retirement) will join VA Puget Sound leadership in honoring the 22-year Veteran. Friends of Alvarado-Ramos, along with representatives from U.S. Army, Veterans Service Organizations, local congressional offices and VA Puget Sound staff are expected to attend.

Event Details:

VA Puget Sound, 1660 S. Columbian Way, Seattle (just inside main entrance)

November 9, 2022, at 3 p.m. (brief 15-20 minutes ceremony)

A Look at Seattle’s Climate Tech Summit: An Invite-Only Function Hosted by Bill Gate’s Breakthrough Energy Initiative

Bill Gates Seattle Climate Change Speaking Event

Investors and inventors in climate technology gathered recently at the Breakthrough Energy Summit, which took place this week inside a Seattle waterfront venue shrouded in wildfire smoke.

The gathering provided an opportunity to share news on cutting-edge technology being created and implemented to help rescue a warming Earth.

They featured carbon-negative cement, sea hydropower turbines, aviation fuel manufactured from discarded maize, and plant-based dairy proteins.

Bill Gate’s Breakthrough Energy project

Breakthrough Energy, a project under the direction of Bill Gates that supports decarbonizing technology through money, research, mentorship, and policy assistance, convened the conference.

The venture capital division of the network has funded 105 startups and raised more than $2 billion in investment. A further $1 billion is being distributed to businesses participating in its catalyst program as grants and moderate financing.

Through its fellows program, 63 business and technology specialists have teamed up to create cutting-edge technology. The function, which attracted 700 guests from all around the world, was, for the most part, quite positive.

And over a dozen business owners displayed their technology, and the conference lunches included some of their eco-friendly food items. There was excitement about the booming VC demand for climate and renewable energy startups, which, drew investments totaling a record-breaking $64.6 billion the year before.

However, anxiety over worrisome recent occurrences subdued enthusiasm regarding industry advancement. The conflict in Ukraine, supply chain bottlenecks, recessionary economies, and floods that are destructive in Pakistan were some of the key climate issues discussed at the event.

Many urged caution, pointing out that while there has been significant success in removing carbon from the electricity system, transportation, housing, agriculture, and industries, it hasn’t come close to meeting the targets that science has established.

Leaders in business, government, and venture capital shared their perspectives on the summit’s discussion of climate progress and possibilities.

Gates on Technology and Climate

Despite acknowledging the enormous issue posed by climate change, Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and creator of Breakthrough Energy, mostly concentrated on solutions.

“Innovation is one of the last things that cross party lines; it creates fantastic new businesses and fantastic new employment,” he said. “Politics wouldn’t allow us to combat climate change if we just used expensive remedies and requirements.”

He predicted that the skill entering the field of climate will rise substantially. “The entire Breakthrough experience has truly strengthened my conviction in human inventiveness, even outside the digital domain,” said Gates.

Gates first mentioned the concept of green premiums in his climate book last year. The notion is that we must switch to current carbon-free technologies for all aspects of our economy, including energy, transport, farming, built structures, and industry.

And their price has increased as of late. The green premium is that additional cost. By funding this research, he hopes to reduce the green premiums, making the alternatives more affordable or at least competitively priced with technology based on fossil fuels.

He suggests that we measure our success in combating climate change according to what happens with green premiums. Solar and wind energy electricity are two examples.

They used to be prohibitively costly, but their prices have dropped so dramatically, so quickly, that they are now less expensive than coal.

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Why Seattle Experienced the Worst Global Air Quality This Week

Seattle Air Quality

The Space Needle in Seattle, neighboring mountains, and the skyline were all obscured by a dense mixture of smoke and fog on Thursday when Seattle experienced the worst air quality in the whole globe.

The city got the worst air on earth for the second time in a row, surpassing notoriously filthy places like Beijing and Delhi. The air quality index, or AQI, in Seattle exceeded 240 on Wednesday and Thursday, which is considered to be “extremely harmful” for all age groups.

A block away, it was difficult to discern the summit of a structure, and many people donned masks to shield their faces from the noxious smoke smell and airborne particles.

On Thursday afternoon, Seattle’s level of PM 2.5, or microscopic particles fewer than 2.5 microns in diameter, was 38 times higher than the yearly level advised by the World Health Organization, according to the air quality monitor site IQAir.

Cause of Poor Air Quality

The reason was weeks of exceptionally dry and hot weather mixed with forest fires burning in the Cascade Mountains. Seattle set a record for the warmest day this late in the fall on Sunday with a temperature of 88 degrees.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington has received remarkably little precipitation before June, and 56 percent of the state is currently experiencing a drought.

A meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle, Maddie Kristell, called it a “shocking fact” that Seattle has the worst air quality in the whole globe. She stated that a continuous high-pressure ridge that has prevented storms from passing over Seattle is contributing to the issue.

She stated, “That ridge was so powerful and it was really blocking a change in weather patterns from coming through.” This, along with warmer-than-normal temperatures, made it possible for the flames to burn longer than they normally could have.

The city’s poor air quality comes as scientists work to determine whether wildfire smoke is getting worse and how it’s damaging people’s health on the West Coast and elsewhere. Research released last month found that over the past ten years, the number of Americans who experience an excessive smoking day has dramatically grown.

As one of the study’s co-authors and a professor of earth science at Stanford University, Marshall Burke, a Stanford University professor of Earth Sciences, recently stated that, “If you live in the West, you know that things have changed and it’s grown smokier. The objective, however, is to measure how much.”

Effects of Poor Air Quality

Less than 500,000 individuals annually, from 2006 to 2010, were exposed to significant levels of PM2.5, according to the researchers’ findings. However, that number increased to more than 8 million between 2016 and 2020.

There are more Americans who are exposed to suffocating, acrid air in summer and fall due to a hotter, drier environment and a lack of planning on how to avert massive wildfires.

In addition to aggravating respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, regular high exposures to PM2.5 have been proven to have negative effects on children’s test scores and memory.

However, according to Burke, no one truly understands how short bursts of very high air pollution influence people’s health and intelligence.

The current Seattle air quality advisory ends early on Friday. Rain is anticipated Friday afternoon through Saturday, and the National Weather Service stated the rain could significantly improve the city’s air quality.

State Tourism Industry Convenes In Seattle October 11-13 2022

Seattle Tourism

First in-person conference in more than ten years features Rick Steves keynote, hot industry issues and regional roundtables; Summit on responsible outdoor travel gathers state thought leaders

SEATTLE (October 4, 2022) – Washington’s tourism industry will hold its first in-person state tourism conference in more than ten years, attracting professionals from across the state, October 11–12 at the Seattle Airport Hilton Hotel in SeaTac. Following the conference, on October 13, the inaugural Responsible Outdoor Travel Summit will take place at Bell Harbor International Conference Center on the Seattle waterfront.

Both events are hosted by State of Washington Tourism, Washington’s official destination marketing and management organization.

State of Washington Tourism Conference

The State of Washington Tourism Conference is a highly anticipated opportunity for a beleaguered industry to meet and plan its future. Tourism was among the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic and continues to struggle with workforce challenges.

Following the 2011 closure of the state tourism office, the industry worked for years to reestablish a statewide tourism program, ultimately establishing a foothold for State of Washington Tourism just before facing the global pandemic.

The conference will open with a welcome from Washington Governor Jay Inslee and feature a keynote address by public television presenter Rick Steves on the future of travel.

The conference presentations and panel discussions will include the following:

  • The state of travel, from national research experts
  • Plans to rejuvenate international travel for Washington
  • State destination brand and consumer marketing opportunities
  • New community short-term rental regulations
  • The shared value of tourism among visitors and locals
  • Tourism workforce solutions
  • SEA flight service and capacity update
  • A national update on travel infrastructure, security and border crossing

Responsible Outdoor Travel Summit

The first Responsible Outdoor Travel Summit, October 13 at Bell Harbor International Conference Center in Seattle, will convene state and national thought leaders in travel, outdoor recreation and conservation to discuss the role of responsible travel in protecting Washington’s ecologically and culturally sensitive assets and enhancing traveler and host experiences.

The summit is presented by State of Washington Tourism with initiative and foundational support from the Port of Seattle. The two organizations have worked in partnership toward tourism industry recovery, with a strategic emphasis on responsible travel. The summit is intended to spark greater collaboration and commitment from each organization and participants.

Presenters will include representatives from REI, Expedia, Alaska Airlines, Mt. Rainier National Park, the office of Governor Jay Inslee, the Washington Trails Association, the National Parks Conservation Association, the Snoqualmie Tribe, the Tulalip Tribes, the San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau, AFAR magazine and the Washington State House of Representatives.

The keynote address will be given by Jeremy Sampson, CEO of the Travel Foundation, an international sustainable tourism organization dedicated to ensuring that tourism has a positive impact on destinations. Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz will offer opening remarks, and Teresa Hillis of Expedia will present data related to the growth of responsible travel.

Presentations and panel discussions will address the following topics:

  • Managing tourism volumes in communities and on public land
  • Improving the recreational user experience
  • Inclusion and representation in outdoor recreation
  • Travel media panel discussion
  • Summit closing conversation and next steps for Washington

About State of Washington Tourism

State of Washington Tourism (the recently rebranded Washington Tourism Alliance) is a 501(c)(6) organization established by industry stakeholders with the sole mission of developing and sustaining Washington State destination tourism marketing. SWT procures and administers funds for state destination tourism marketing activities and creates and implements the strategic statewide destination marketing plan. Visit the destination website at www.stateofWAtourism.com or the tourism industry site at www.industry.stateofWAtourism.com.

Bloodworks Northwest Unveils New Donation Center in Renton, Serving South Seattle Communities

Bloodworks Renton Location Now Open

Located directly across from Bloodworks’ processing lab, the new location will create better efficiencies between the two facilities by delivering blood within minutes.

SEATTLE (September 21, 2022) – Bloodworks Northwest has opened a new blood donation center in Renton in place of its previous one in Tukwila. The new center is located in Time Square Business Park at 660 SW 39th Street #100, directly across the street from Bloodworks’ testing and processing lab and two blocks from IKEA. This convenient location will provide better efficiencies between the two facilities and allow for faster processing times. The goal of the new, vibrant, modern donation center is to attract younger donors and serve the region.

               The Bloodworks Renton Donor Center will operate seven days a week and increase the number of available donor beds by 10%. As a result, Bloodworks expects to collect more than 18,000 donations at the new center in the next year. The organization provides 95% of the blood supply to hospitals in Western Washington and Oregon, including nearby Valley Medical Center. It takes approximately a thousand people each day to provide a safe and reliable blood supply for those in need of transfusions for cancer, trauma, and surgeries in the Pacific Northwest.

               “We are thrilled to bring a bigger and better donation center to our community,” said Bloodworks Northwest President and CEO Curt Bailey. “Blood donation is vital to the health and well-being of our community. Our new donor center in one of Washington’s ten largest cities will make it easier for people to donate blood, encouraging them to step up and save lives.”

               Bloodworks is also trying to make the experience more donor friendly, with an outlet for cell phone charging behind every bench. There will also be free parking, and the center is near shopping outlets and freeways.

               “We wanted something close to our center in Tukwila, which closed in August after 52 amazing years, but also looked at the possibility of adding some efficiencies by being located right across from our lab space,” said Executive Vice President of Blood Services Vicki Finson. “Traffic delays in getting blood processed can be a concern. A unit of blood donated at the new Renton Donor Center will now be in our laboratory within minutes and starting its journey toward helping a patient in need. We look forward to our loyal Tukwila center donors following us 1.2 miles to our new location in Renton and welcoming many new donors as we grow.”

               The new donor center will also facilitate employee training of blood collection specialists since it is directly connected to the Bloodworks Northwest Training Suite. It’s also just steps away from the mobile hub, from which staff and mobile collection vehicles are drawn for blood drives within an approximately 50-mile radius.

               On September 29 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Bloodworks Northwest will have a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the new donation center. President and CEO Curt Bailey, Executive Vice President of Blood Services Vicki Finson, Renton Mayor Armondo Pavone, Renton City Councilmember Ed Prince, and CEO Valley Medical Center Jeannine Grinnell will be on-site to celebrate the occasion, as will local blood recipient Mack Bell, who owes his life to transfusions from donors in his fight with a deadly condition called aplastic anemia.

               To book a donation appointment at the new Renton Donor Center, please call 800-398-7888 or schedule online at www.bloodworksnw.org/donate.

About Bloodworks Northwest

Bloodworks Northwest is backed by 75 years of Northwest history and 250,000 donors. It is local, nonprofit, independent, volunteer-supported and community-based. A recognized leader in transfusion medicine, Bloodworks serves patients at hospitals in Washington, Oregon and Alaska — partnering closely with local hospitals to deliver the highest level of patient care. Comprehensive services include blood components, complex cross-matching, specialized lab services for organ transplants, care for patients with blood disorders, and collection of cord blood stem cells for cancer treatment. Bloodworks Research Institute performs leading-edge research in blood biology, transfusion medicine, blood storage and treatment of blood disorders. Patients with traumatic injuries, undergoing surgeries or organ transplantation, or receiving treatment for cancer and blood disorders all depend on our services, expertise, laboratories and research. Blood donation appointments can be scheduled at bloodworksnw.org.

Teachers In Seattle Vote To Suspend The Strike After Reaching ‘Tentative Agreement’ With School District

Seattle Teachers Strike

The school year was supposed to start Sept 7th, however, the strike continues to be extended. That maybe over, however, as the teachers and the school district have reached a “tentative agreement”. 

Washington state’s largest school district, Seattle Public Schools, announced late Monday it had reached a tentative agreement with Seattle Education Association on its educators’ contract. This comes as great news for many families as they try to get back to work and in the office.

Seattle Schools released a statement, acknowledging the tentative agreement but not really saying much on the matter according to ABC News, “For now, the details of the tentative agreement are confidential”. The Emerald City Journal was disappointed by all parties and the lack of transparency. The newspaper responded late Tuesday, “We go through this exercise just about every year and these are the employees we pay for with our taxes. They all work for us and they should all do their jobs better to represent the public. That includes all parties involved. If this was any other business, a lot of people would be shown the door and honestly, there are 100’s of others who would step up to replace them. Over time we’ve created a system that is poorly operated and not sustainable. The educational system has been ruined with privileged characters all protected by agreements, rules, bargaining parties, and the union. We will go through this again soon.”

On Tuesday, union members voted on whether to lift the strike. Among 78% of those voting, 57% approved a motion to suspend the strike, according to the union’s Twitter feed. School is expected to start on Wednesday.

As of late Monday night, the union was “excited” to have reached a tentative deal.

It was an “incredible effort” by both sides to reach an agreement, the school district stated.

All this comes, while today, the Dow dropped 1200 points devastating the financial savings across the country. It marks the worst drop since June 2020. Families are struggling to put food on their tables and inflation continues to run wild. Biden and the White House threw an ‘inflation reduction’ celebration with James Taylor on the South Lawn. Nothing to see here…. everything is going just great!

Photo by Peffs

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Sue Bird Announces Her Retirement from the WNBA in Her Farewell Game

Seattle Storm Basketball

After 21 years in the WNBA, Sue Bird has finally retired. The Seattle Storm’s season came to an end Tuesday when they lost 97–92 to the Las Vegas Aces in the Western Conference Finals. In her farewell game, Sue Bird told the Seattle crowd, “I hope I did everybody proud.”

With her retirement, she leaves the WNBA with the record for most assists in a single postseason. She contributed 46 assists and committed only six turnovers in six postseason games in 2022. In her last game on Tuesday, she scored eight points and sent out eight assists. On-court recognition for the 41-year-old guard was given by the Storm and the Aces, with cheers from the crowd.

Speaking to a reporter after the game, Bird said, “Obviously, I am quite grateful for my twenty years at this institution. That place holds so many wonderful memories for me, and I’m going to miss it terribly when I go. I’m not leaving, but I’m going to miss it. It’s been a privilege to suit up for this team and represent these supporters.”

Bird spent her entire professional basketball career with the Seattle club, where she helped lead the Storm to four WNBA championships. After the final game in 2021, the same supporters who chanted “One more year!” now greeted her with “Thank you, Sue!”

When questioned about what she would like to leave behind, Bird stated she wants the Storm to keep winning and playing at the high level they set during her tenure. She hoped the incoming point guard could continue the team’s winning ways and sustain its championship status for the sake of the fans.

At first, Bird followed her colleagues off the court, but then she changed her mind. After the game, she stayed on the floor to be embraced by the Aces’ entire squad and coaching staff. As Bird greeted the fans and made her way to the locker room, the spectators stayed on their feet.

“I genuinely did not wish to leave the court,” Bird said. “At first, I just followed since it seemed that was the direction everyone was heading. Still, I wanted to take a minute before leaving to express my gratitude and take it all in, as this is, after all, a positive development. When I think of what we’ve done, I feel a sense of pride. Yes, I’m disappointed, but I’m also glad that I got to share that moment with the fans and hear them chant in such an enthusiastic way. Even if it may not seem like it from the outside, there is a great deal of joy.”

Bird said it seemed “sort of surreal” to have played her last game in the WNBA. Her teammates, notably Breanna Stewart, still are getting used to the thought of life without Bird on the court. Stewart remarked, “As disappointing as it is that we won’t be able to compete for a title this year, I believe what’s more painful is that we won’t be sharing the court with Sue anymore.

We won’t be able to interact with her in any way before or during games, so she won’t even be present during practices. To have it become a reality so suddenly is really painful.” The entire team, however, wished the legendary Sue Bird all the best in her retirement.

Photo: “Seattle Storm victory rally, Westlake Plaza, Seattle, WA” by djwudi

Top 3 Candidates for the Seattle Police Chief Post Announced by Mayor Harrell

Seattle Police

Seattle’s hunt for a new police chief, which began over two years after the prior chief retired, has narrowed down to three contenders, two of whom are already employed by the department. Seattle Interim Police Chief Adrian Diaz, Seattle Deputy Chief Eric Greening, and Tucson Deputy Chief Kevin Hall were named as the three contenders for Seattle’s permanent Chief of Police by Mayor Bruce Harrell.

Chief Carmen Best stepped down in 2020 following a summer of demonstrations and criticism of the police force, and in the meanwhile, interim Chief Adrian Diaz has been in charge.

Out of 15 applicants provided to a search committee this spring, the three finalists—Diaz, Eric Greening, assistant chief of police in Seattle, and Kevin Hall, assistant chief of police in Tucson, Arizona—have been chosen.

While making the announcement, Mayor of Seattle Jim Harrell said, “Our national selection procedure has placed community voices at the center to discover what priorities and values Seattle citizens want to see in the new police chief.”

Following this thorough procedure, the committee identified three exceptional individuals who possess the experience, education, and character traits necessary to advance the One Seattle vision of a community in which every citizen has the right to feel secure.

“To ensure that our community’s expectations for candidates in terms of accountability, leadership that prioritizes the needs of the community, and creativity are met, our selection committee and evaluators have prioritized those traits in the candidates they have advanced. I am excited to interview and assess these potential hires,” said the city’s mayor.

The appointment of a permanent police chief is governed by a number of provisions in the City Charter. According to the Charter, the mayor must hold a competitive examination to determine the top three candidates for the position of police chief. The City Council must also approve the appointment of this official.

An outside agency was brought in back in April to help with the hunt for a permanent police head by scouring the country for qualified applicants. In order to choose the individuals who would go on to the testing phase, Mayor Harrell formed a search committee comprised of 14 prominent members of the community, including professionals in law enforcement, victim advocates, and others.

The search effort has been greatly aided by input and participation from the local community. In May, seven different language versions of a public poll were made available. The survey findings, from which over 1,300 locals participated, are shown below.

In addition, over the months of July and August, seven community dialogues were organized so that locals could have their say in the search. In July, the Empower Initiative encouraged talks with many communities, including the religious, corporate, immigration, and youth sectors. The Chief job attracted applications from fifteen qualified individuals. The search committee interviewed each candidate and then shortlisted a smaller group to take the exam.

The competitive examination mandated by the charter was given on September 6 and 7 and was overseen by four public safety specialists. All of the committee members agreed that the top three candidates should move on to the mayor’s office. There will be a series of interviews with the candidates, culminating in a question-and-answer session on September 15. The Seattle Channel will be broadcasting the evening event.

Photo by AdamCohn

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Ex-Seattle Seahawks Linebacker Shaquem Griffin Has Decided to Retire from the NFL

Seattle Seahawks Football

The NFL’s “real inspiration,” veteran Seattle Seahawks linebacker Shaquem Griffin, said he is retiring from the league on Wednesday 25th August 2020.

Griffin is notably remembered as a player who lost his left hand just at age of four as a result of a congenital ailment and later rose through the ranks to become the first one-handed player in NFL history. He was an inspiration to many and a good example of fighting despite the odds life hands you.

Griffin announced this in a message posted to The Players’ Tribune. “It still seems a bit unbelievable, to be honest.

It’s almost unfathomable that, after everything I’ve gone through, after all the hard work and all the naysayers, I’m hanging it up and moving on from football”, Griffin said.

The Rise of Griffin

The league initially took notice of Griffin when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, which was the fastest time for any linebacker at the event.

The Seattle Seahawks took the University of Central Florida to commit in the fifth round a year after selecting his brother Shaquill in the third round. After three years and 46 games in the NFL, free agent Griffin was released by the Miami Dolphins.

He went through multiple futile tryouts before telling his agent he was not interested in playing in the NFL unless he could join his brother on the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“Quite a few individuals won’t like that strategy, I know. So many men are out there putting up long hours and making sacrifices in the hopes of landing some kind of break, and I’m holding them back. In other words, I completely understand. But there’s something you have to know about me,” says Griffin.

So, What’s Next for Griffin?

The free agent, who is 27 years old, has said that he is ending his playing career but staying in the league. In fact, he has joined the NFL Legends Community, a league-run initiative where former players assist current and past players adjust to life after football.

Griffin described it as a place where athletes may get advice and assistance in anything they could be going through or attempting to accomplish, including help with community service projects.

“It’s go time for my backup plan. I am aware of the good I am doing for other people. I give talks on believing in oneself and following your passion wherever I go, from high schools and universities to football clubs and businesses around the country.

Many in the business world are eager to hear my insights, but I have much more to learn from them,” he said.

Many well-known names in football history paid tribute to Griffin. In a tweet, the Seattle Seahawks called Griffin: “A genuine motivation for his teammates” while his brother Shaquill proclaimed him a “true legend” online.

And the NFL said, “Shaquem Griffin proved at the 2018 NFL Combine that there are no limits to human potential. Definitely, someone to look up to. Best wishes for your retirement.”

Photo by “Seattle Seahawk signatures” by samantha.levang is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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